


Divided

by meathermac



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: And angst, Be More Chill - Freeform, F/F, Fanfiction, I can't tag I'm sorry, I love these kids don't hurt me, M/M, Musicals, Some fluff maybe, be moe chill au, but none of them exist at the beginning, dani likes her fame so she changed the tags, element au, if avatar and THG had a child + the squip squad, probably quite a bit of angst hhhh, the Brooke and Michael friendship gives me life, the first chapter mostly focuses on jer, we didn't plan this so i can't tell you when exactly the relationships come into play
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-01-15 21:45:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12329496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meathermac/pseuds/meathermac
Summary: Imagine a world divided into four, fire, water, earth, and air. Once you are born into an element, not only do you inherit magical powers that have something to do with your element, but you also are constantly taught to hate everyone that isn't of the same element. Even just interacting with someone from another element can lead to horrific punishments by the corrupt leaders.Every five years a boy and a girl from each sector is chosen to compete with their powers. Well, 'compete' sounds too nice, they fight to the death in teams, the two each chosen from the same sector. The winners are given riches and praise but what if the participants fall in love?What would they do if they still were forced to go against each other?Rated teen for swearing and maybe some violence later onAlso! Thank you to @meathermac who has and continues to help a lot with this!





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Basically a combination of Avatar (I haven't actually seen it lmao) and The Hunger Games. Sorry the first chapter is kind of short but if you have any questions feel free to comment! I may make a blog for this au eventually but for now just you can just read this!

“Mister Jeremy Heere? Jeremy Heere?” The announcer repeated. His voice boomed through the streets as he stood up on a raised platform, above a crowd. The announcer was a tall man, he looked about in his forties with greying black hair and fair skin and a voice that commanded attention. 

Jeremy didn’t know how to react at first. He gazed at the man like a deer in the headlights. The last thing he expected was for his name to be called. He was shaking so much as he just stared past the crowd. 

There were hundreds of other people to choose from…. but why him?

It was then that he knew that was the moment that would change Jeremy’s life forever. 

Jeremy, the small, meek, simple, boy, was chosen to fight to the death with a bunch of other teens his age. All because each leader wanted to be better than the others, prove their population was superior. 

They weren’t exactly on the best of terms with each other. 

Every 5 years they chose a boy and a girl, all around the same age to try to eliminate the others while working in groups of two, the boy and the girl from the same element. The winners were praised, given a life of happiness, riches, and popularity. But that didn’t seem worth it to him, the very thought of being rewarded for hurting other people sickened him. 

All his life, Jeremy, like everyone else, was taught to hate everyone who wasn’t from the same element, which is something you can’t control, but he went with it. 

He had never really planned on exiting the air ‘zone’ so it didn’t really matter to him. Plus, the punishments for associating with people from another element were horrific and something he didn’t want to endure. 

All who were a part of this sick game were almost worshiped, told they were heroes, by the members of their respective element of course. But that didn’t make it any better. 

His whole life, anywhere he went it was constantly shoved down his throat that the ‘volunteers’ (he had never understood why they called them that, it’s not like they had a choice) were the best human beings and deserved love and praise. 

Jeremy had never really grasped ‘The battle’. All he knew was that it had something to do with using the abilities of your element… or something like that. Jeremy had never really felt the need to use his power excessively, like most of the air element, he was polite and considerate, but he also cared about what other people thought about his abilities because the truth was, he didn’t know how to use his powers. At all. He could maybe do little bits but he couldn’t control it the slightest. Which, in turn, caused him to be extremely nervous. 

He shuddered as he watched the crowd turn to him and mumble something. Everyone saying something different. There was pure terror in his eyes. He was going to die and leave his father all alone. But he didn’t want to die yet! His mind was racing almost as fast as his heart. Maybe it was a mistake?

After a few more seconds of people chattering quietly and looking at him Jeremy made his way through the crowd up to where the announcer was, fighting back tears as he did so. It wasn’t like he had many friends, if any, but he still didn’t want to just die! 

The crowd made room for him. Quickly moving with each terrified step he took. 

By the time he got there heard the announcer say another name. He couldn’t remember at the time, it was something like Brooke… Brooke something - Brooke Lohst! He remembered her. They see each other around sometimes, they were in the same class a few times in elementary school. She was always at the top of the class, so maybe he wasn’t so doomed after all. 

He watched her walk up to the pedestal, the same fear filled eyes and nervous step as she stood beside him, casting a quick glance and looking back down at the stone roads beneath them. He could tell she was fighting back tears. 

The announcer continued to ramble on about their bravery and strength, but he’d eventually been able to tune it out, leaving him along to his thoughts. 

Jeremy could only imagine how Brooke felt. She had so many friends and a loving family that she was going to have to leave behind and possibly never see again- he stopped himself. He needed to think positive for even just a second, however it was harder than he thought. Maybe once all this is over he will walk back into the town square, Brooke beside him, with crowds cheering surrounding them and his dad embracing him in a warm hug. He wanted that. He wanted it so bad and was going to try his hardest to make that daydream, that hope, a reality. 

———

Even as days passed it still seemed so surreal to him. Jeremy and his father hadn’t talked much since he was chosen. Even on the day he was supposed to leave for the ‘preparations’ (basically where you meet your team member, hang out and strategize for a day) they still barely talked. 

And he was okay with that. Jeremy didn’t know what he would say to his father anyways. 

His father had been through enough and he was about to put him through more you could say he he just felt… bad. 

Jeremy stayed in his room. Picking up a few books and skimming through some of the pages to bring back the memories held within the many papers. It was getting late but Jeremy didn’t want to sleep. If he slept that meant he would wake up in the morning and he preparations would start. He wasn’t ready for any of this. 

He flopped back on his bed, pulling the checkered red and black blanket over him and let a tear fall down his freckled cheek. He tried not to let his mind wander to the fact that in a few days he could be dead.

Either that or he would have killed someone. 

Jeremy fiddled with the edge of the blanket, eventually letting fatigue consume him as he finally fell asleep.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon being chosen, let's see how Brooke handles this situation, and hear more about her life and ties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A hugeeee shoutout to @meathermac who helped so much with this chapter (Probably why its so much better lmao) you should go read her fic's they're awesome. If you like Be More Chill I would definitely recommend reading her works!
> 
> henlo its dani/@meathermac you've probably read choreography which is my superstar fic - but we aint talking bout me. c here asked me to help her edit and i said fuck no imma write half of it for you :/ so here we are enjoy this amazing fic

Brooke’s world was coming crashing down around her. 

There was only one word going through her mind and that was how? God, this couldn't be happening to her, it couldn't be happening, there's no way, she couldn't go into that arena and kill people, which meant she was going to die - 

Deep breaths, Brooke. 

She clenched her fists, trying her hardest to focus on something else, to calm her down. 

She couldn’t even begin to fathom how her dads and siblings felt about this. Let alone her friends and her classmates… 

A few more days - but only one last chance to say her goodbyes. 

Oh god, no, she was gonna miss her window if the ceremony took any longer, and this could be her last goodbye to her best friend if she didn't time it right. 

Brooke rushed off the platform the second they finished announcing her name. The boy, Jeremy, stared at her but she didn't care. The corner was empty, thank god, but she knew it was bordering on noon or so and she only had until twelve-fifteen for her goodbye. 

“Brooke?” 

She sighed. “I thought I'd missed you.” 

Her best friend chuckled. “Yeah, I did too. But I got training off for the ceremony.” He leaned against the chain-link fence that separated their sectors. “Who's being sent in your zone?” 

“Well, the boy's name is Jeremy… “ 

“Jeremy, huh?”

Brooke nodded and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her sweater. 

“So am I” Brooke said simply, staring at her shoes.

The expression on his face turned to a terrified one, almost in some sort of trance. He couldn’t believe it. Well, he could, he just didn’t want to. Brooke was good at that kind of stuff, and probably a good choice but it was still hard for him to even think for a minute that there was a high chance she would never come back. 

“I don’t think I’m gonna make it…”

“Hey, don’t say that, I'm sure it will be alright in the end…” Her best friend said, though the truth was he was just as worried. Brooke was one of his only friends and he didn’t know what he would do if he lost her. 

“Have you seen the guy I’m with?!” 

“Brooke-” He was cut off by loud bells. “Shit, I gotta go...” His ceremony was about to start and he needed to get to the square. 

Brooke looked at him. “G-goodbye” 

“See you.” He smiled as to reassure her, but really nothing could do that now. She hoped it wasn’t the last time she saw his face as he waved one last time, running off into the distance until he disappeared from view entirely. 

Brooke made her way back to the center of the town, smiling at the congratulations and trying her hardest not to cry. She asked her parents to turn on the Earth sector’s ceremony, so she could “scope out her competition”, or, in reality, so she could see if she could see Michael in the crowd of trainees. 

Brooke would be hung or worse if anyone ever found out that she had become friends with someone from another element, so god forbid she even know his name. She did, though, it was Michael Mell, trainee of the Earth sector. The title was stupid, and it was little more than a joke between the two of them.

Though now that she was thinking about it, did it even matter anymore? She was most likely going to die anyway, so her forbidden friendship with Michael was water under the bridge. 

She turned her attention back to the ceremony. 

“For our boy… ” Right. The guy always goes first. 

“Michael Mell!”

Brooke let out an audible gasp as her best friend bounded up to the stage. His smile seemed real enough, but to Brooke it looked fake as could be. 

“And for our lovely lady…. Christine Canigula!” 

Brooke knew who that was, too. She wasn’t a trainee in the same program as Michael, but she was a relatively famous actress in Michael’s sector and Michael said she was a sweet girl. 

The panic was evident on her face. It was clear that she hadn’t been planning on being chosen for the game, since she wasn’t even attempting to hide her emotions. Christine looked terrified.

Michael could been seen trying to calm the girl down, taking her hand and whispering to her. She nodded, and the two of them faced the cheering crowd, smiling and waving.

For the second time that day, Brooke’s world was coming crashing down around her. 

Not only was she going to have to face off against a bunch of other people in that stupid game, she’d have to face off against her best friend that nobody knew was her best friend. 

She didn’t really feel like watching the Fire and Water ceremonies, so she headed upstairs to her room and buried herself in her blankets, doing everything she could to convince herself of a positive outcome to this competition.

So far, the only relatively good one was her and Michael both dying so they wouldn’t have to live on without the other. 

Maybe she could convince the other kid in the sector to form a truce with Earth so they at least wouldn’t have to kill each other?

Brooke barely left her room over the course of the three days between the ceremony and the preparation day. She and Michael hadn’t been able to find a window in those days where he didn’t have training and she could make it to the fence. Late at night on her last day before she and Jeremy would meet for preparations, she considered sneaking over to the fence but she could hear her dads whispering downstairs, and she abandoned the idea. 

The next day, also known as prep day, Brooke joined Jeremy at the assigned spot.

It was a relatively large rectangular room with cream coloured walls and dark wooden floors. There were benches and tables positioned around the vast space but there was still a lot of room to move around. 

The boy, Jeremy, was very quiet. He just fiddled with his clothes and stared at the ground. 

The day went by quickly. Their conversations soon went from strategy to just talking like buddies do. Them becoming friends was basically inevitable and by the time they were to go to their rooms for the night, they left much closer than they had been in the morning. 

Brooke’s mind was still focused on Michael as she went to bed on her last night. laid down, hoping she’d just fall asleep and this would all be over. 

The next morning came soon. The sun turning the sky a brilliant pink and with the light Brooke sat up in the comfortable bed, pushing the thick blankets back. 

She wished she could stay there forever. Frozen in a peaceful place, with the only sound being that of her own breathing and a few birds outside the large window surrounded by curtains and she also enjoyed the fact that she was still living and breathing, something that she knew could easily change in a few hours.

Before she knew it there was the distinct sound of her name being called and a knock on her door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here you go, again, feel free to comment any questions you may have!


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More backstory oops. More stuff will happen in the next chapter. Also many more POV's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hhhhh sorry but they get on the train the next chapter.

Rich brushed back his dirty blonde hair so that the red streak was more visible. 

Unlike most of the others, he actually wasn’t too afraid of this whole competition. He had a good teammate and quite the abilities himself. 

The only competition that he was worried about was the only other trainee that wasn’t him or Chloe - and the boy, Michael, had comforted his partner when she started panicking. That was a no-go for the Fire trainees - if your partner freaked out, you distanced yourself from them.  
The boy and girl from Air weren’t trainees, they were just normal kids. Same goes for the Water kids, though the boy - Jake, wasn’t it? - from that sector was, like, 6’2” and was relatively muscular.

But yeah, there was no reason for him to be worried. His teammate, Chloe Valentine, was renowned for her skills, and she was dead-set on winning this thing. Fire hadn’t lost in years, and Chloe and Rich weren’t about to break that streak. He knew they could and would win this. He wasn’t completely comfortable about the whole killing aspect of the game, but he wanted to win and killing the others was the way to do that. 

Rich flicked his hand, hoping to catch the small paper in the corner on fire with a little blast. Chloe had gotten mad at him for not practicing enough at their last strategy meeting, so he figured he’d play around with his skills a little on the last night. 

The train was boarding tomorrow. All four sectors were sent off on the same train to the arena. They were expected to begin the rivalries that would fuel the games on the train - but there were stories of broken friendships and even relationships from the games. Rich and Chloe had made an agreement to not even really talk to the others - killing them would be a lot easier with no attachments.

\----- 

A few doors down in a relatively small room, it was like a different world. 

Jenna had tried her hardest to stay strong but she couldn’t anymore. She stormed around the room. She wanted someone, no, she needed someone. 

She wasn’t used to being alone and she hated it. She usually had someone around her when things got tough, someone to talk to but now it was just her and the idea of her very possible death looming over her. She could go to Jake but he was probably already doing something himself.

Jake was well known throughout the water sector. He was strong and friendly, it seemed like he was your best friend after talking to him for a few seconds. Jenna never understood how he could be so charming and have so many friends so she just stuck to what she was good at, talking. Well more like gossiping. Most of what she said was a rumour about someone else. 

She hated that that’s what she was known for though but it was too late to change it and she knew that. 

She got up out of the large chair she was sitting in and walked over to the window. She gazed up at the millions of stars that were visible on the clear night. 

She smiled as her eyes scanned the deep night sky. She used to be afraid of whatever was beyond but lately she had been more curious, more interested. Stargazing was like an escape for her. Whenever she was stressed or sad, or anything really, she would look up at the stars that lit up the vast sky. 

She didn’t have the best view because she was well, looking through a window but it still seemed almost magical to her because she knew that maybe somewhere, someone who loved her was looking at the same stars. 

\----

Christine ran and ran. As fast as she could through the sand. She was being chased by another competitor hellbent on killing her. She felt them get closer as her knees ached and shook as she bolted, sand splashing behind her as if it was liquid. 

She couldn’t do this anymore. She turned around, stopping in her tracks. What happened next was something she couldn’t describe. She wasn’t herself. 

Christie raised her hand slightly as they ran at her and with a flick of her wrist she had sent a thorned vine through their chest. She watched as they fell to the ground, their clothes soaked with blood. 

They screamed and looked at her in pure terror. But it didn’t faze her. She slowly walked towards them-

Christine sat bolt upright in a cold sweat. She glanced around the room, trying to make sure that she really had just been dreaming. 

She felt the tears begin to trickle down her cheeks. All she saw was the girl’s face, staring up at her. 

“No….” She whimpered softly into the darkness, still uncontrollably crying into her hands. 

How was she supposed to survive anything in that arena? 

The more realistic answer is that she wasn’t going to survive. She’d watched the other ceremonies - even the girl from Air probably had more experience than her. Christine hadn’t ever used her powers for anything besides performing. 

Let alone the fact that she was deathly afraid of going in there and dying. She didn’t want to die or kill people - which meant bad things for her and her teammate, Michael.

The clock read 6:30, which meant only a few hours before she was to board a train with people who were going to try to kill her. It took a minute to let that sink in. 

She ran over what she was going to say to Michael on the train over and over and flopped back down on the bed, looking up at the simple ceiling. 

She had stopped crying but she kept seeing the girl’s face whenever she closed her eyes. Even hurting someone in a dream was devastating to her. 

The girl wasn’t even real, to Christine’s knowledge. Her face didn’t match the other three female volunteers. But it still hurt.

That morning she made one promise to herself. To never do anything like that to anyone, no matter how crazy the game got. She wasn’t going to take someone’s life, that’s the one thing she can count on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I hurt her....


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael begins to take a particular interest in the boy from air....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OML IM SO SORRY IT TOOK US FOREVER TO POST AHH. Ive been hella busy for the past few weeks but here we are. The chapter definitely could be better but eh. Also we made an ask blog for this au you can check it out its called be-more-chill-element-au so yeah thats a thing that exists, hope you enjoy the chapter! - Sincerely Amusicaltrashcan

Jeremy looked at the other volunteers sitting around him in the train car. It had been 5 minutes since they boarded and you could already feel the glares shot to other ends of the room in the awkward silence. 

It was more bumpy than he expected it to be. He tried his hardest not to make any eye contact but when he did look away from his shoes he saw a whole range of people. The two fire volunteers looked confident and tough, occasionally whispering to each other, the water volunteers quietly murmuring things to each other, and the earth ones sitting in silence. 

The fire ones would be the hardest to take down. Jeremy wanted more than anything just to get back to his normal life and because of that he had been starting to think differently. Instead of seeing the other teens in the fairly small train compartment as, well, just other teens, he now saw them as competition, as prey. 

He mentally scolded himself every time he caught himself thinking like that. But he honestly couldn't help it. He knew that's what the people running the game wanted to happen and he was giving in. 

The two water kids now looked lost in thought, the girl from earth looked even more terrified, and her teammate, the boy from earth, kept exchanging glances with Brooke. The girl from earth looked easy to eliminate - 

Since when did he start thinking like that?! How did he go from shuddering and crying at the thought of hurting people to planning out who he was going to kill!

Things like that happened too often, or mostly whenever he thought about his competition. 

He looked up again and caught the boy Brooke kept glancing at staring at him. He wore a red sweater open over the shirt that they made all of us wear, it had the symbol of your element on it. So the others knew. 

What did that boy want with him and Brooke? Jeremy had a faint memory of Brooke requesting to team up with Earth - but how would he know about that?

He had never gotten around to asking Brooke why she rushed off the platform that first day - though, it was probably none of his business. 

The boy kept staring at him, but when Jeremy caught him doing it he turned away quickly. 

Seriously, if he caught him staring at them one more time he was going to find a way to work up the courage to ask why. 

\-----

Michael’s mind was racing. He was sitting with Christine beside Brooke and her partner. God, he didn’t even know his name. 

Every time he looked at Brooke he was beside her and Michael couldn’t stop looking at him. He was so cute, even the way he turned his head up from the floor to sheepishly glance at someone, Michael thought everything about him was adorable. 

This couldn’t be happening. He wasn’t falling for someone from a different element, he tried to tell it to himself over and over but he still had that feeling in his stomach whenever the boy looked back at him. 

He was falling for someone from another element and he knew it, no matter how much he tried to deny it. 

(Wow, he’d done this twice. Three cheers for the idiot.)

It’s not like he had never been attracted to a guy before though, and it’s not really frowned upon anymore. Of course there are the token homophobic assholes but they’ll always exist. It’s not like the leaders have any problem with it though. So the fact he’s a guy isn’t the problem, it’s the fact that he’s from air, and Michael wasn’t. 

Maybe one day they could run away from all of this, just the two of them, and be together forever- he was getting ahead of himself. Michael hadn’t even talked to him and he was already planning out their future…. Great. 

No, he did know his name. It was Jeremy. Brooke had told him after her ceremony. That was something, at least. 

So he knew his name. That made one whole thing that Michael knew about him - except for the fact that he was really cute.

The frequency of whispering and glares throughout the room increased, it was almost as if everything was buzzing. 

It wouldn’t be too long before they arrived, so - 

MIchael’s thought process was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. “Excuse me? You keep looking over at Brooke and I, and I was just going to ask why?”

Jeremy’s voice was quiet, probably so to not draw attention to the fact that he wasn’t talking to Brooke. 

Speaking of Brooke, he knew she was trying hard not to laugh, despite the situation. 

(It was weird to think he knew more about the girl sitting on his right, who he was supposed to have never met before, than the girl sitting on his left.) 

Michael didn’t know what to say, really.

“I was just… uh-“ thank god Brooke cut him off at that moment. She said something softly to Jeremy that Michael couldn’t quite make out.

Jeremy nodded and went back to being quiet.

Brooke gave Michael a pointed look and leaned back in her seat. He rolled his eyes at her, turning himself so he was more or less facing Christine.

The train slowed to a stop as Michael’s heart sped up. This was it. They called it America City - and it was huge. 

His breath hitched as he caught his first glance of this massive city.

It was insane - and to think this could be his first and only time seeing this spectacle of a place. 

No, no thinking like that. He'd make it through somehow. 

His mind was very conflicted. He had been trained to kill people and to win this thing - but he didn't really want to.

Of course who would want to kill anyone? 

Everyone slowly stood up, starting with the fire trainees of course. The group started to file out of the train car and was escorted by a few people in uniforms who didn’t make eye contact. 

That’s when he started to see it. They were right beside the arena. He could see the gigantic walls that stretched up towards the clouded sky. 

They started to be separated by others in uniforms. Each group to a different side of the arena. Michael and Christine approached closer and closer to the arena, they could see the metal gates. 

Michael looked over at Christine who was visibly shaking. He put a hand on her shoulder as if to reassure her and she looked back at him with a small smile. 

After a few minutes there was a bell and the gates swung open as Michael and Christine were pushed inside the arena with a grassy floor.

Surrounding them was a forest, the traditional style for the arena. There had only been a few of these in his life but only one of them was not the forest style. 

He could hear the sound of some person behind a speaker, barking words into a microphone they were supposed to hear but in reality Michael wasn’t focused on that at all. The adrenaline started to kick in and even though he wanted to collapse in fear of what was going to most likely happen in the next few hours, he tried to stay strong for Christine. He really cared about her and if he broke down she would feel even worse. 

From the inside you couldn’t see the walls. It seemed like the trees went on forever. 

He could feel the cameras watching them as they walked slowly forward, casting occasional glances at each other.

He finally heard something out of the speakers somewhere in the arena, the initiating statement, the battle had begun.


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christine and Michael don't exactly work together perfectly, and it just might screw things up for them...

Michael walked through the brush, Christine by his side. They stayed silent, both absorbed in their own thoughts. 

 

“Christine,” Michael said, not making eye contact. 

 

“Yeah?” She looked over at him.

 

“What would you do if I told you I, uh…”

 

“Go on.”

 

“If I told you I had feelings for someone… someone from a different element?”

 

Christine stayed silent for a moment. “You can’t.”

 

“Christi -”

 

The two of them stopped. “I want to support you and all but… but… this is different, okay! I care about you, and this is why I have to say this! You need to distance yourself from them, whoever ‘they’ are!” 

 

“I don’t care about that, Christine. I can’t just not tell them, I can’t keep it inside forever, they’re the one, and if you really cared about me you’d understand that.”

 

“But what if they don't like you back and report you? What then!?”

 

Michael didn’t know what to say at first. “I’m willing to risk that.”

 

“Lemme get this straight: you're willing to risk your life and possibly others’ too, for someone you haven't even talked to.”

 

“Well, when you put it like that -”

 

“This is stupid Michael. I’m sorry, I really am.”

 

“So you’re sorry now? I don’t want to hear it!” He yelled. “You’re just as useful as I thought you would be. I thought someone like you would understand…” Michael spat.

 

“Someone like me? What is  _ that  _ supposed to mean?”

 

“I don’t know! Someone who acts out impossible love stories on a stage! That’s what you do, isn’t it? Someone who supports people no matter what!” Michael sighed, exasperated. “God, I wish you were more like Brooke! She’d understand.”   
  


“And what do you know about Brooke?”   
  


Michael waved her off. “Forget I said anything.”   
  


Christine crossed her arms. “No, I want to know why some girl you don’t - you shouldn’t even know would be a better friend than I am.”   
  


“Well, since you don’t exactly trust me right now, I’m not going to - “   
  


She cut him off. “Shut up.”   
  


“What? No - “   
  


“Stop talking. I heard something.”

 

Michael flicked his wrist, letting the vines curl up around his arm. He knew that Christine was nowhere near as comfortable with her powers as he was, so he motioned for her to stay behind him in case it was a competitor. Using his other arm, he forced the brush in front of them to part, revealing - 

 

“Brooke?”   
  


“Michael!”   
  


The other girl ran up to him and hugged him, both of them forgetting the rules for the moment. “I wasn’t sure if I’d find you again.”   
  


“Well, I’m here. Christine and I covered the cameras in this area with vines so we could talk in private. So we’re all good.”   
  


Christine glanced back and forth between the two of them like she was watching a tennis match. “You know each other?”   
  


“Yeah, we do.”   
  


“Please don’t report us,” Brooke said, anxiously, “we’ve been best friends for years. This competition is already going to ruin it, so don’t screw it up before it’s inevitable, please?”

 

“Is this who you said you had a crush on?” Christine asked, gesturing to Brooke.

Michael shook his head rather forcefully. “Definitely not.” He glanced at Brooke. “Where’s your partner?”   
  


“We have a makeshift shelter by the river. I was looking for food when I heard your screaming match. Fair warning, though, I saw the girl from Fire on my way over here. Both of those two are trainees, just like you.”

 

“Of course. She’s the bitchy one, right?”   
  


“Mhmm. She’s a bully, like her teammate, Rich,” Christine added. The other two stared at her. “What? Am I the only one who did research?”

 

They brushed her off. “We need to get out of here if she heard us - ” Michael started.

  
“I doubt she did. I wasn’t exactly close when I saw her.”   
  


“Ah. Okay. Christine, can you do the thing with the trees you did in that one play?”   
  


“So very specific.” She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, probably. Here?” 

 

“No, their shelter. If there's trees there?” 

 

Brooke nodded. “Yeah, there are. What are you doing?” 

 

Michael shushed her. “I heard something.” He flicked his wrist again, causing the vines to grow back.  Brooke held her hand out, palm facing up, allowing the air to swirl around, creating a mini-tornado in her hand. (It was one of her favorites.) 

 

“On three.”

 

\-----

 

Chloe wasn't exactly a master of stealth, but the Brooke girl wasn't amazingly observant either. She hadn't seen her following her.

 

Then again, Chloe had managed to screw up in the most cliche way possible - she had stepped on a fucking stick and broke it. 

 

Amazing.

 

She had two options here: make a run for it, or fight. 

 

Granted, she'd win either way. Fun fact about Chloe Valentine: she's nothing short of a legend back in the Fire sector. Top of her class six years running. Gifted with powers nobody had mastered, and not scared to use them. She'd been revered as little less than a hero back there. 

 

And it was three on one. Maybe a little challenge would be good for her. Plus, she did have a new trick she'd been working on...

 

She flicked her wrist, setting a little bit of the brush on fire. She stayed quiet, waiting for their reaction.    
  


The fire went out. Brooke’s doing. The brush grew thicker, which was either Christine or Michael. 

 

“Oh, they’re actually trying! How cute,” Chloe mumbled, burning down whatever brush they decided to conjure from her hiding spot. She kind of wished she had somehow brought a phone into the arena so she could record it for Rich.

 

Alright, time for her dramatic entrance. Chloe got up from her hiding spot, walked over to what she assumed the middle of the three of them was, and then burned down the brush with a small fireball. “Well, it’s nice to see you all. Which one of you shall I start with?” She snapped her fingers, setting a fire encircling them. “No, no, don’t move. That would make it no fun for me!”   
  


“Who are you and why does it sound like you should be British but you’re not British?”   
  


Chloe laughed. “Oh, you know who I am!” She flicked her hand at Michael, pushing the fire closer to him. “I’m Chloe Valentine, sweetheart. Now, do I start with the Air girl, or the Earth girl? Oh, or the only other competition in this place?” She pushed the fire even closer. “Michael, right? I’ll have fun killing you.”   
  


“Don’t do this!” Brooke begged. Chloe pushed the fire closer. 

 

“Don’t do what? My job? The only way to win this thing?” She smiled bitterly. “I’m afraid I have no other choice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heh okay i HAD to end it dramatically 
> 
> also i may or may not have read all of chloe's lines in a british accent AND THEY SHOULD SO TOTALLY BE BRITISH


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone help Christine, Michael and Brooke please. Also Rich meets Jake....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS WE'RE SO SO SO SORRY WE NEVER UPDATE THIS. We're acually going to make an effort to update more frequently from now on! Expect chapter 7 soon!

Christine felt like crying, and screaming, or anything - she just had to do something but she was… frozen. 

She glared at Chloe, still feeling the warmth of the flames surrounding not only her but Brooke and Michael as well. 

She sensed Brooke move beside her, preparing an attack. A few seconds later, Chloe was sent flying back, slamming into the ground. The fire went out around them, but Chloe got back up quickly, and it seemed almost like nothing had happened. Before any of them could move, she ignited the fire once again and nearly burned Michael as he was stopped in his tracks by the flames. 

Chloe glared at the group of them. Though she was silent, her eyes were even more menacing than any words could be. 

It was in that moment that they all knew that there was no way this girl was going down without a fight. 

Yeah, they were screwed. 

Christine could feel the tingling in her fingers that usually preceded some plant-attack (there was no better wording, shut up). Chloe could fight like a straight-up demon, though. And Christine couldn’t control her powers. 

Christine did not like Chloe. She was what could only be described, in modern terms, as a bully and a bitch. 

But her dream still haunted her. Despite how much she hated Chloe Valentine, she didn’t want to kill her. She had vowed not to kill anyone, and despite how much she disliked Chloe, she wasn’t going to kill her. 

Michael could kill her. Christine knew that he had the same thorned vine skill as the dream. 

But right now, the only thing she could focus on was the fire all around her. It made her want to start panicking, but that wasn’t an option. She had to fight back, but how? Christine couldn’t control her earth powers . She couldn’t fight against Chloe like Michael could. Or even Brooke, for that matter. 

“Give it up, losers! You’re outmatched. I’ve been training for years on years.” Chloe eased off the fire a little bit. “Though, I am due for some entertainment. Brooke, Christine, how about you watch me kill your friend here? Fire beats earth.”

 

“Why should we stand by and watch you kill Michael?” Brooke said defiantly. 

Chloe smirked, and then shot a quick fireball toward Brooke, grazing her leg just perfectly so that it didn't damage too much of it, but from what Christine could see, burnt it pretty badly. “Because if you don’t, I’ll kill you first. Back off.”

Christine, sensing that she had no other choice, helped Brooke off to the side, hoping her leg wasn’t too badly hurt. She started to wonder whether it was worth it to stay and watch the fight, or if she should run. 

So it was down to Michael and Chloe. 

Earth versus fire.

\-----

Again, Rich wasn’t entirely sold on the killing thing, but he knew he had to win.

So he didn’t stop Chloe when she followed the Brooke girl. And if someone came into the clearing across from their shelter…

He’d attack them. Rich wasn’t going home in a wooden coffin, kay? He was in it to win it, and there was no way he could do that without killing people. 

He caught a glimpse of movement across the meadow he and Chloe had set up shelter next to. Rich wasn’t sure if animals were a part of the game, but he also didn’t think animals moved like they were trying to be stealthy.

Rich stood his ground, ready for someone to jump out at him. But nothing happened. There was dead silence, though he could still tell someone was there. 

He could also tell the person across the clearing wasn’t aware that Rich was there. Which meant he could easily sneak up on whoever it was… 

Rich came closer to the person readying an attack. He kept telling himself that he had to do this but that still didn’t really make up for the fact that he was literally about to murder someone. 

Then, the person he was sneaking up whipped around, staring Rich right in the face. 

Jake. Water kid. Also, six two and very intimidating now that he was standing in front of him. 

Rich had to fight back the urge to run and cower. But then again he was kind of cute-

No. Now was not the time to get the hots for a guy he was about to kill. 

A flame grew in his hand as he slowly came closer and closer. 

Jake backed up slowly. “Stay back…” 

Rich kept going. 

Why was he doing this. He didn’t want to do this. 

Fire shot out of his hand, narrowly missing Jake. He dodged it, but refused to attack. 

Rich attacked again, but the same thing happened. Only dodging. 

Jake Dillinger. The Jake Dillinger, was refusing to attack. 

God was he lucky he could do that. 

Rich advanced, Jake backed up. 

“What the fuck are you doing? Why aren’t you fighting?” He said in frustration. Jake didn’t reply, dodging another one of Rich’s attacks. He just wanted this to be over. 

It hurt. 

He didn’t want it to. 

They said the first one would be the hardest but this was awful…

“You don’t have to do this...” 

“But I do.” Rich tried again. Jake barely dodged it. 

“No you don’t. We can form a… what do you call it..”

“An alliance?”

Jake nodded. “Yeah! Yeah.” Rich saw him blush. Why was he so cute when he blushed? 

“You see i'd love to but-“ Jake cut him off. “I don’t care if your partner says no. I don’t care that you are a fire trainee. I know neither of us want to kill each other right now, and I know together we won’t have to for a long time. So what do you say?” Jake extended his arm. 

Rich was quiet for a moment. Suddenly all his thoughts of having to win, of having to kill, of someone having to die… went away. Rich took his hand and shook it. 

“Fine But If you pull anything. Anything at all - you’re dead” Rich glared at him as he shook his hand. 

Jake just smiled as if he had said nothing, he looked so happy and Rich didn't want to do anything to change that.

“Let’s do this”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if anything was unclear? I don't have a lot of writing experience but I hope you enjoyed anyways, remember if you have any questions just comment!
> 
> heyo if you have any questions about the plot i highly suggest you direct them to cadence (@amusicaltrahcan) because i can't really answer them
> 
> but enjoy! and give all the credit to my co-writer they do all the hard stuff and i just kind of write


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